SEPTA, transit police union stop negotiations; will resume Tuesday
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- SEPTA and the union representing its transit police will resume negotiations on a new contract on Tuesday morning, SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch said.
Busch said SEPTA and the union had a "productive dialogue during meetings" on Monday. SEPTA Transit Police's 170 officers will remain on the job and not go on strike as of Monday night, according to Busch.
"Our goal is to reach a fair contract without a strike, and we look forward to tomorrow's negotiating session," Busch said in a release.
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The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 109 sent back its third counteroffer of the day Monday as negotiations ended.
The union's vice president, Troy Parham, said negotiations with SEPTA are going "OK."
"As long as we keep moving in this direction we could avert a strike," Parham said.
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"Good news is SEPTA police officers are still on duty. We're hoping it stays that way," Busch said.
The union's primary concern is the terms of the contract. In the latest offer, SEPTA proposed a pay increase over the course of three years, plus a $3,000 signing bonus and a $2,500 retention bonus.
The FOTP is willing to consider a two-year deal.
However, Busch said they're being careful about budgeting employee raises as the transit authority faces financial challenges.
"We're on track to lose 20% of operating funding when federal COVID relief funds run out if we don't get supplemental aid from the state," Busch said.
Both parties are committed to working on the deal throughout the holiday week, if necessary, to keep officers off the picket line.
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"We know there are some things they're not going to agree to and there's some things that we're not going to agree to, but we can talk," Parham said. "The reason we called for a strike in the beginning is because we weren't moving anywhere."
And SEPTA's contract conundrums don't stop here.
SEPTA's engineers and conductors unanimously voted to authorize a strike. They're also demanding pay raises.